Outset from Faust Manor

Faust Manor, Nabooru

Damien looked at the demented picture of his father hanging above the mantle in the broken, beat up common room of the once lavish Manor house of the Faust Family of Nabooru. As he looked at the picture, torn and incredibly dusty, his mind turned only to sorrowful thoughts. He thought of his poor mother, and the pain that his father endured after her death at the hands of Nabooru's citizens. He then thought of his vision that night... His mother walking to him as he wept on the stairs leading to the doors of Faust Manor.

She touched him gingerly on the shoulder, and his eyes, red with tears, turned up to meet her gaze. He stood slowly, taking her hand which could be grasped, yet felt misty, like that of a ghost who still clung to the world of the living. She spoke softly to him in soothing tones. However, just hearing her voice again made him well up with rage, but as she spoke, her words cooled his nerves, and made his muscles relax.

"Father... Why did you turn to him?"

Unsurprisingly, his question was unanswered.

Damien brushed the hair from his face and turned away from the portrait upon the wall. He walked slowly and solemnly to the main hall of Faust Manor, turning to descend the great, marble stairs outside that led to the door.

Nabooru

As he did this, he gazed upon the town that he had not seen for fifteen years. The slow walk down to the town proper was a seemingly long and arduous one, and when he began to walk amongst the houses of the townspeople, citizens looked upon him in astonishment.

"That's Adrian's boy!"

"He's been gone for years!"

Such were the whispered and surprised declarations exchanged between the townspeople of Nabooru. Damien only avoided eye contact, but walked tall, that is, until one man clearly wearing a sword stepped before him.

"You! You're the son of Adrian Faust! A family of demons, all of you! What do you want with us!?"

Damien became slightly enraged, but did not show it.

"I do not walk in the footsteps of my father. I do not know you, man, but I would suggest you do not cross me."

"How do I know you aren't here to help your father kill us all!?"

"My father is dead."

Damien continued walking, despite the man's protests. Behind Damien, the crowd resumed its commotion in loud whispers, while the son of the cursed baron walked through the center of town. Children and townspeople watched silently from the sides of the street as the mysterious man walked by without a single word.

Where will you go, now, Damien... What will you do to redeem your family name?

He turned his head and looked up a hill to a temple built in honor of Nayru... Surely, the goddess would give him answers... He had to have answers, didn't he? If not from the Goddess of Wisdom, then from whom?

Rogue was seen lurking behind this obscenely tall man, she was a master at getting information from people. "Hey baby, what are you doing?" she questioned the man as she started to massage his chest. The man was fairly flabbergasted at this point and started rambling about the weather. "I don't wish to talk about the weather. I want to talk about that very tall man."

"Ugh why do you want to talk about him," he said as he stood back in disgust. "He's a horrible human being, just like his whole Faust family"

"Oh my that's scary. But I bet an excellent swordsmaster like yourself could protect me from the big bad wolf. What do you know about him?"

"His father turned his back on the village and tried to destroy us all he's a total monster. No one quite knows why they were wealthy and powerful, he just lusted for more."

She smirked as she learned just the bit of information she had wanted, "So how about we go out to dinner tonight? Say Sixish I have to go get ready. Don't stand me up now." She winked as she ran away, she had never planned on showing up. She had bigger fish to fry.

The man stood confused, "Wait I don't know where you live! Meet me here!!!" He calmed down and started to walk home, "Mom's gonna be so proud, I may even have to take a shower for this one.

-----

Rogue walks up to Damian and began to whistle, "Boy aren't you handsome," said the Gerudo as a ploy to get the man to talk to him. "Hey cutie you aren't by any chance a Faust are you?"

Damien continued walking up the stairs on the hillside below the Temple of Nayru. He preferred not to trouble himself with the angry people of Nabooru at this time. He was about a third of the way up the cobblestone steps when he first heard her voice.

"Boy, aren't you handsome."

Damien slowed for a moment, then kept walking.

Has this town really fallen to prostitution as well?

"Hey, cutie! You aren't by any chance a Faust, are you?"

That stopped him in his tracks. Around here, anyone who knew his name was only afraid of him... or rather his father, he reminded himself. The son of Adrian Faust was seen as no better. However, this woman had no sound of fear or contempt in her voice. She genuinely had a purpose speaking to him.

Now all I need is someone with an honest purpose... She sounds like trouble...

He turned slowly where he stood. The tall man's eyes looked down to see a small Gerudo woman on the stairs below him, staring back at him with a look of innocence.

"...................................................................."

Damien stood for a moment in total silence, looking the woman over, probing for anything... odd. Strangely, she gave a feeling of trust, albeit slight. Who was she...?

".........I am."

She thought for a moment and realized she was not going to get by with just a bit of charm, she needed a bit more to get through to him. "Man of few words I like that." she wondered for a moment beside him up the flight of stairs. She thought it best for him to gain her trust first. "The towns people don't have many good things to say about your family. I am not from around here as you may have guessed, but my question is. If they hate you so much here, why did you come back?"

In retrospect that seemed kind of cold of her to word it like that but words are like spilled milk you can't get them back into the glass. She just tried to keep a kind demeanor in hopes that he won't take it the wrong way.

Damien gave the question a moment's thought, though he felt he knew the answer all along.

"Because it isn't their fault. I long ago forgave them for what they did... Even though they will never forgive my family."

Damien turned back up the stairs and continued walking toward the temple. If the woman wanted to continue probing his mind, she could follow him, but if she only wanted to know why he came back, as pointless a question as Damien felt it was, she would soon lose interest in him. Whether or not the Gerudo would follow him into the temple was her choice and hers alone.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he entered the heavily embellished church without looking back...

"How rude," Rogue muttered under her breath. She almost felt like giving up due to lack of interest but in the end she followed him into the chapel. She wasn't even sure why, for whatever reason she liked the challenge. This man seemed so much more different than the usual person "I hate to be a bother but something is different about you. I get a very different feeling about you than most. Can you tell me why?"

"I wish I could. Perhaps, some day you will find out, but today is not that day."

Damien continued walking to the Altar of Nayru. He reached out to touch the great blue crystal presented at the altar, kneeling in prayer. Immediately, he felt the warmth of Nayru's affection flowing into him. His prayers asked for wisdom... and guidance. His mind at ease, he stood back up and left the temple.

As though Nayru heard his prayers, Damien encountered a small, elderly man who looked quite frightened enter the temple. Confused, Damien followed the man back in. He approached the man from behind.

"Hold, friend. What troubles you?"

"I've come seeking help for my people... I am from a small village northeast of here, in the Northern Hills. My home is within sight of the Lost Woods, and in recent days, creatures of unspeakable malice have been emerging from the forested hills. They raid and pillage, unchallenged by the soldiers of Hyrule. There are strange things at work in the north... I have been traveling from town to town, seeking help. You are the first who would listen."

"I will be the first to answer... Go home and tell your people that help is coming."

Damien then knew what could be causing the feeling in his heart. He felt his father grow in strength, because his father was trying to return to land of the living. That was something that Damien could not allow to happen. He quickly returned to Nayru's altar while the tired-looking man, elated, returned to his horse-drawn cart and set off up the road.

Goddess of holy Wisdom, give me your blessing that I may once again expel the servant of Ganon from this realm...

With that, Damien stood, adjusted his large, black cloak, and took off out the door to the temple, once again passing the pretty little Gerudo woman who had been trying to talk with him.

"If you have any questions left for me, you may follow me on my path. Perhaps then you will find out why I am what I am. Be warned, however, that my path is not a peaceful one."

Having said that, he walked briskly down the stairs of the temple and proceeded toward the edge of town en route to the north...

The prayer seemed like he had a bucket load of regret in his life, much more than a man should normally endure she was intrigued as to what the man had been through. Even genuinely intrigued untill the mysterious man walked past her as if nothing was happening which incredibly angered the Gerudo. "Damnit," she muttered under her breath as the man left. "How dare him resist my charm and treat me like nothing more than a hooker." She grunted heavily before angrily stomping around the room. She began to ponder what to do, she was determined to get something out of this. She began to ponder why he seemed so different, but then she realized that he doesn't seem quite as disgustingly crude as most men are.

She ran forward down the stairs and caught up to him outside of the temple. "You were talking to the wrong girl, there is nothing about me that screams peaceful."

Damien slowed his pace and looked behind him as Rogue caught him up.

"You say there is nothing peaceful about you, and yet, earlier..."

Odd... She seemed so bent on being peaceful and inviting before...

"You sincerely wish to know and understand, don't you? Why else would you be so persistent in following me? Very well then, you may join me on my road to the north."

Once again, he moved for the edge of town to begin crossing Hyrule Field.

(Continued here)